The Second Angel

Kerr, Philip

ISBN 10: 0752814435 / ISBN 13: 9780752814438

Published by Orion Books / Orion, 1998

About this Item

© 1998: A stand-alone novel by Philip Kerr. 1st edition, 1st printing:- Synopsis: "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man" - Revelation 16:3. By the second half of the 21st century mankind is on the verge of extinction. 80% of the population have P2; a Human Parvo virus that will kill them within ten to fifteen years. The only cure is a course of drugs and a complete transfusion of healthy blood. Blood is life, it is worth far more than its weight in gold. The latest World Association of Blood Banks price for one litre of healthy human blood is $1.84 million. The world's blood banks are protected by state of the art security systems. The most secure bank of all is not even on Earth. The First National Blood Bank is on the moon. Its security systems are impregnable. Dallas knows this. He designed them. And now Dallas' daughter is ill. Not with P2 but with an older disease. A disease that can only be treated by monthly blood transfusions; more than Dallas can possibly afford. There is only one way he can get it. He knows it. His employers know it. Dallas must attempt an impossible bank raid. If he succeeds mankind has a future: Review(s): Praise for Philip Kerr: "England's answer to Michael Crichton" - Financial Times / "Philip Kerr is a phenomenon as much as a novelist" - Mail On Sunday / "Kerr's rich imagination is lit by technology. He roars off down many original paths, and his work radiates belief in detail and knowledge" - Daily Telegraph / "Kerr has a remarkable facility to take a genre, stick to its rules, and then push them to the limit" - Sunday Telegraph / "With an observant eye for detail, Kerr reveals a fine-tuned ability to make his fiction credible by combining the futuristic with the familiar" - New Statesman And Society:- (original cost £12.99).

Seller Inventory # 17.999.00125

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Second Angel
• Publisher: Orion Books / Orion
• Publication Date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0752814435
• ISBN 13: 9780752814438
• Binding: Hardback: 9½" x 6¼"
• Illustrator: Cover Art: Uncredited
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good: Light signs of wear
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

A raid on an impregnable bank. If it succeeds, mankind has a future. A masterpiece from a world class thriller writer. In 2069 mankind is on the edge of extinction. 80% of the population have P2, a parvovirus that will kill them within 10 years. The only cure is a complete transfusion of uncontaminated blood. Blood fee of P2 is now worth $1,480,000 a litre. Blood has become life itself and the healthy few guard theior supplies very jealously. The 1st National Reserve Bank is on the moon, protected by an impregnable array of security devices. But now the man who designed the systems , is on the run. His daughter has a rare genetic disorder: needing regular blood transfusions. Only place for this is the blood bank and he is too dangerous to be allowed to live. And so begins the impossible bank raid, watched by the mysterious 2nd Angel. An entity who has an agenda all it's own, upon which hangs the future of mankind.

Review

In The Second Angel, Philip Kerr's "hero", Dallas, is running for his life in a world where blood is the single most valuable commodity. Determined to avenge the deaths of his wife and child, he devises a plot to burgle the moon's top-security blood bank, gathering together a crew of lost souls, renegades and reprobates to assist him.

Kerr's blinding attention to detail (he includes a complicated series of footnotes explaining how mankind reached this soulless point), and his own lack of feeling for the characters he has created, is initially disconcerting. But as the story develops, the reader is compelled to live through this all-consuming thriller, coming to terms with the idea that Kerr's vision of the future may be more than just science fiction.

As the crew head to the moon to commit the crime of the century, the reader enters a miserable, bitter world (set just far enough in the future to be believable), where it is ever more difficult to discern what is good and what is evil, and where mankind is paying for mistakes that are all too familiar. --Susan Harrison